Wound clip protector



Jan. 5; 1943. A. BOWEN WOUND CLIP PROTECTOR,

Filed Feb. 27, 1941 WW m0 m W5 0 m m WW0 m 2m Patented Jan. 5, 1943assist WOUND CLIP PROTECTOR Arthur Bowen, Los Angeles, Calif., assignorto Clay Adams Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplicationFebruary 27, 1941, Serial No. 380,783

12 Claims.

This invention relates generally to surgical devices. More particularlymy invention relates to improved means for protectively supporting woundclips.

It is well known that wound clips of the type generally employed byphysicians and surgeons today are provided with relatively small sharpprojecting points in order to cause a minimum of pain to the patientwhen applied and'so that no scars will remain after removal. It isthere- The support H comprises a pair of jaws or fore obvious that theseprojecting points are necarms l2 and 14 provided at opposite endsthereessarily exceedingly delicate and easily injured, of with pairs ofapertured ears I2a and Ma and that a wound clip with bent or dulledpoints respectively. A shaft [5 passing through aligned must bediscarded. apertures of adjacently disposed ears l2a and Ma Wound clipsare today sold in units, each of 'pivotally interconnects the said armsI2 and Id. which comprises a series of said clips, of a cer- A coilspring l6 surrounding the shaft 15 and tain size, slidably mounted on abent wire carhaving projecting end portions Ilia pressing rier. In orderto efficiently meet the physicians against the inner walls of the arms12 and I l and surgeons needs for dealing with different serves tonormally urge said arm to spread apart. types and sizes of wounds, woundclips are made To facilitate the movement of the arms I2 and in avariety of sizes. 7 M to closed position against the action of theBefore use, it is necessary to sterilize wound spring It, for purposeswhich will soon become clips; and when a wound clip unit is droppedapparent, angularly arranged finger gripping into ajsterilizer alongwith heavier surgical inmembers I! and [8 are provided. The saidfinstrumeiits, the sharp projecting points of the ger members I! and Itmay be integral with the clips are frequently damaged. arms 12 and Mrespectively, as shown, or they It is therefore one of the objects of myinvenmay be connected in any other suitable manner. tion to provide ahighly improved device for sup- As hereinbefore described the clip unitIt! ilporting a wound clip unit of the class described lustrated in thedrawing is of the standard type which shall be so constructed andarranged as gen r lly pp d to p ns and r ns and to accommodate series ofwound clips of different comprises a series of wound clips 29 mountedsizes and which at the same time shall prevent on a bent wire carriercomprising the legs 2! damage 'to the points thereof. interconnected atone of their ends by a trans- Another object of my invention is toprovide verse integral portion 22. a device for protectively supportinga wound clip As shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, each wound unit of'theclass described having means to faciliclip 20 may be of the well knowntype formed tate the removal of individual wound clips from f o & Stripf tab e be da le material 3% the bent wire carrier. provided with loops3! at opposite ends thereof Further objects of my invention will becomeand having relatively small sharp points 32 proapparent in the followingdetailed description 40 Ject g outwardly therefrom. The loops 3| arethereof, designed to slidably receive therethrough the legs In theaccompanying drawing, 2| of the wire carrier to hold a predeterminedFig. l is an elevational view of a wound clip quantity of wound clips 20thereon. It is noted unit and a support therefor, constructed and arthatthe projections 32 are angularly inclined toranged in accordance with myinvention; ward each other.

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof as viewed sub- The foll win onstruction isprovided to pr stantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; tect the points32 of the wound clips 2% against Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View takensubstanage u il they are used. tially along the line 3-3 of Fig. l, andillustrat- A po 33 djacent the top lon itudinal ing in dotted lines themanner of its use; to edges of each of the arms l2 and It is angularlyFig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the assembled outwardly fla ed as S own.The angle of the said device shown in Fig. 1; portion 33 is such that thinner surface of the Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but ofrepoints-32 will contactively ride over the surfaces duced size and withthe wound clip unit removed; of the said portions 33 and there will thusbe Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the wound formed a protbacking for the Points 32.v

clips shown in Figs. 1 through 4 and removed from its carrier; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a wound clip unit support illustratinga modified form of my invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing I have shown in Figs. 1 to 5 awound clip unit It effectively mounted on a supporting device i Iconstructed in accordance with my invention.

jacent said flared portions 33 are turned inwardly towards each other,as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It is thus seen from the abovedescribed construction that in addition to providing a surgical deviceof the class described in which the points 32 of the wound clips areprotected against damage until they are used, my device is soconstructed and arranged that it may be satisfactorily employed for avariety of sizes of Wound clips.

As illustrated by the dotted lines I2 and Id of Fig. 3 of the drawing,when it is desired to use the device for smaller sized clips it ismerely necessary to press the finger members I! and I8 together, againstthe action of the spring I6, a suflicient amount so that the portions 33and 3311 will fit between the corresponding pairs of points 32. Iflarger sized clips are used, the normal action of the spring IE willspread the arms apart and into contactive engagement with the points 32.To add rigidity and strength to the arms I2 and I4 and to the fingergripping members I! and I3, I provide th reinforcing ridges 44 and 45.

In use, the physician or surgeon generally removes the clips 20 one at atime, as required, by sliding the same in the direction of the arrow A,past the flared ends Zla of the bent wire carrier and ofi the ends ofthe arms I2 and I4. In order to prevent the entire clip unit I0,including the bent wire carrier, from moving along with the clip 20, orto become disarranged or dislodged from its protective support II forany other reason, I provide the following construction:

Adjacent one transverse edge of each arm I2 and I 4 I provide a notch 40adapted to receive therein the transverse portion 22 of the bent Wirecarrier member. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawing, eachof the said notches 40 comprise a horizontal portion extending inwardlyfrom the transverse edges of the arms I2 and I4 and a vertical portionextending to a point adjacent the bent over edge portions 33a. There isthus provided an abutment portion 4| which also limits the movement ofthe bent wire carrier in a direction opposed to that of the arrow A.

In Fig. '7 I have shown a modified form of my invention in which theprotective support II instead of being composed of a pair of pivotallyinterconnected arms, is formed from a single sheet of resilient materialcomprising the arms 5| and 52, interconnected by an integral portion 53.As illustrated the arms SI and 52 are normally spread apart in aV-shaped formation and may be resiliently brought together by pressureof the fingers to cause the upper flared portions of the longitudinaledges to engage between corresponding pairs of points.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, adevice for protectively supporting said clips comprising a pair of armshaving longitudinal edges, adapted to contactively engage saidprojecting points, and means for normally urging said arms apart to urgesaid longitudinal edges into contactive engagement with said projectingpoints to removably hold said clips thereon.

2. In combination, a Wound clip unit comprising a plurality of woundclips, each of said clips having projecting points, and being slid ablyremovably mounted on a bent wire carrier member, a device for supportingsaid unit, said device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinaledges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edgesadapted to contactively engage said projecting points, said arms beingnormally resiliently urged apart to cause said flared portions tocontactively engage said projecting points, and means for maintainingsaid carrier member against displacement while permitting the removaltherefrom of said wound clips.

'3. In combination, a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of woundclips, each of said clips having projecting points, and being slidablyremovably mounted on a bent wire carrier member, a device for supportingsaid unit, said 'device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinaledges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edgesadapted to contactively engage said projecting points, said arms beingnormally resiliently urged apart to cause said flared portions tocontactively engage said projecting points, and means for maintainingsaid carrier member against displacement while permitting the removaltherefrom of said wound clips, said last named means comprising notchesin said arms adapted to receive a portion of said wire carrier therein.

4. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, adevice for protectively supporting said clips, comprising a pair of armshaving longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent saidlongitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projectingpoints, and means for normally urging said arms apart to urge saidflared portions into contactive engagement with said projecting pointsto removably hold said clips thereon.

5. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, adevice for protectively supporting said clips, comprising a pair of armshaving longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent saidlongitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projecting pointsand means for normally urging said arms apart to urge said flaredportions into contactive engagement with said projecting points toremovably hold said clips thereon, said last named means comprising ashaft pivotally interconnectingsaid arms and a spring for normallyurging the pivprising a plurality of wound clips having projectingpoints and slidably mounted on a bent wire carrier with means forsupporting said unit, said supporting means comprising elementsresiliently urged into contact with said projecting points forprotecting said points against damage.

7. The combination of a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of Woundclips having projecting points and slidably mounted on a bent wirecarrier, with a device for removably supporting said unit, said devicecomprising means for protecting said point against damage, and forslidably removably supporting said wound clips thereon, and means forlimiting the relative axial movement between said device and said bentwire carrier.

8. In combination, a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of woundclips, each of said clips having projecting points and being slidablyremovably mounted on a bent Wire carrier member, a device for supportingsaid unit, said device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinaledge portions adapted to contactively engage said projecting points,said arms being normally resiliently urged apart to cause said edgeportions to contactively engage said projecting points, and means formaintaining said bent wire carrier member against displacement whilepermitting the removal therefrom of said Wound clips.

9. As an article of manufacture, a wound clip protector comprising apair of hinged arms, said arms having longitudinal edge portionsextending in parallel relation and formed to fit between the projectingpoints and the body portion of a Wound clip, and spring meansresiliently urging said edge portions apart.

10. A wound clip protector according to claim 9, in which the arms areprovided with finger pieces, for conveniently bringing said edgeportions closer together against the action of said spring means.

11. The combination according to claim 2, in which the said arms areprovided with finger pieces for conveniently bringing said arms closertogether.

12. The combination according to claim 8 in which the said arms areprovided with finger gripping portions for conveniently bringing saidarms closer together.

ARTHUR BOWEN.

